My journey into the world of low intensity cardio

[genEus]

Thankfully I'm back.

Some time ago, about 5 or 6 months I started plateauing at whatever weights I was lifting... I tried to change up my routine and such but nothing helped... I got a little miffed and decided that maybe I should take a break and focus on cardio work... So, 3 months ago I enrolled into two classes at school - "Beginner Swimming" and "Jogging: 10K" ... First was to learn swimming, second, to learn running, since I've never run more than 2 miles at a time in my life. So I hoped that by doing cardio, taking a break off weight lifting I would lose a lot of body fat and give my body a break from heavy lifting...

Long distance running sucks. That's all I can say. Even after 3 months of training our instructor couldn't convince me that it was fun. I would run about 3 miles and get so bored I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I still have no idea how people find it fun. Finally I ran a 10k course in 50 minutes a couple weeks ago... Now, swimming was great. I finally learned the proper strokes and feel a lot of accomplishment there. Also it was very taxing on my body, I couldn't swim a lap without having to take a break for 2 minutes in the beginning, but by the end of the three months my endurance was very much improved. So, I'm happy I did that and plan to continue swimming for cardio work.

Now as far as the results? I was more tired every day, wasted much more time on fitness per day (about 1hr vs. 40-45min when lifting), was WAY more bored than when lifting, did not lose any extra body fat but only lost some of the definition that I had 3 months before and with it the self confidence about my looks.

So 3 days ago I went back to the gym, tested the waters and found that, thankfully, I lost maybe 5% of what weight I could lift 3 months ago, and I'll get that back quick. For the last 3 days my body was so sore I could barely move, but it was so familiar that I welcomed the pain with open arms (it hurt to close them ) .... but I already feel that I'm starting to regain my look, I feel fit, I feel alive... Now to set goals and work towards them!

Just sharing... thanks for reading :

[threenorns]

but you're not supposed to do one OR the other - they work in conjunction!

and if running was so boring, why bother? there are so many alternatives - biking, roller-blading, waterskiing, bodysurfing, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, rock-climbing, hiking, diving, hockey, volleyball, baseball, dancing, you name it!

surely there's something else that you would enjoy doing for a couple hours a week?

otherwise, why not investigate high-intensity cardio - MaxOT (16 minutes) or guerilla (12 minutes) style?

[genEus]

Originally Posted by threenorns

but you're not supposed to do one OR the other - they work in conjunction!

and if running was so boring, why bother? there are so many alternatives - biking, roller-blading, waterskiing, bodysurfing, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, rock-climbing, hiking, diving, hockey, volleyball, baseball, dancing, you name it!

surely there's something else that you would enjoy doing for a couple hours a week?

otherwise, why not investigate high-intensity cardio - MaxOT (16 minutes) or guerilla (12 minutes) style?

Biking was something else that I started too, and I find that a lot of fun, but I think it's very inefficient in terms of giving you a fast, high intensity workout unless you have open plains where you can actually pedal really fast for some time...

But, Max-OT cardio is what I have been doing before this, just not often, maybe once a week, so it wasn't too much help but I greatly enjoyed raising my heart rate to 185+ so I'm going to go back to that

Welcome back genEus. Nothing beats weight lifting, does it? I can relate on how boring running can be. The only time I have had fun with it was when running with a couple of other people who I really like. Otherwise, it is simply a chore. I'm also glad to hear you haven't lost much in the way of the strenght you built.

As for breaking your plateau (when it will eventually happen) keeping both a food log and workout log are invaluable tools. The reference points they give you are much more accurate than trying to make adjustments simply from memory. They are a pain in the neck but well worth the effort.

[midgetcop]

I feel your pain, man. I *love* weight lifting, and would rather just throw running right out the window. Unfortunately, I *have* to do it.